Once a Hero

The ground shook and crumbled beneath her, explosions went off with a deafening BOOM. The air was filled with magical blasts and debris. She manuevered her way through the magic beams.

She saw Silver Streak, a comrade, scream and fall. She did not stop, her target was right in front of her, she would not let Silver's sacrifice go to waste. With the last burst of her energy, she collided with her target.

She breathed heavily trying to catch her breath. Tightening the grip on her target, the Crystal Heart. She muttered something about needing a holiday under her breath as she turned on her radio to contact Canterlot.

"This is Rainbow Dash, calling in for a report on the mission"

A Few Days Later

Canterlot

Twilight thought Pinkiepie couldn't possibly be more hyperactive than her 'normal' state. She was wrong. Pinkie was bouncing, talking, laughing, and turning cartwheels somehow at the same time. Twilight vowed she would someday examine Pinkiepie. She had a good reason to be excited, though. Today was the day, Dash and her troops were returning from a dangerous mission. Normally they would be worried, but Princess Celestia had informed them that Dash has called back confirming the mission's success. The pink baker was already planning a huge "welcome home from a big dangerous mission" party. Applejack was chatting along, adding that she should definitely add apple cider as it was Rainbow's favorite drink. Rarity was asking Fluttershy if her dress looked fine. Twilight smiled, she couldn't wait to meet the cyan pegasus again.

They arrived at the Canterlot throne room, where Celestia promptly greeted them.

"These are certainly hard times, but it is good to have you girls by my side"

Celestia remarked, making Twilight blush. The pink mare interrupted their conversation to ask when they were arriving. Celestia replied smiling that they would be crossing into Canterlot fairly soon.

The room was filled with Pinkie's chattering and even the guards couldn't help but crack a smile.

The door burst open with a loud CRASH. Pinkiepie looked around eagerly to see her energetic rainbow friend. She gasped in shock. The others followed suit, their gazes locked on the figure that had just come through. She was a gray haired pegasus coated in blood. They would recognize her anywhere, she was one of the few ponies that Rainbow looked up to.

Daring Do(a.k.a A.K Yearling), was bleeding and wounded badly as she limped into the throne room. Celestia yelled for the doctors and they came running through the open doorway.

"Wha.. Wha.. Happened?"

AppleJack managed to choke out. She feared the answer. The distressed mare groaned, clearly straining to speak. She managed to say a few words before collapsing into a coma.

"was... a...Trap . ..urgh .. .Only Survivor.. . .... all. agh..... Dead . ... .."

A silence filled the entire room. Twilight felt the world crumble. Her Friend..., She... couldn't be..No...it..wasn't..possible.. Fluttershy passed out.

"Naaaah, That has to be a joke, right?... right??"

Pinkiepie's smile faltered, her poofy mane deflating. AppleJack tried to comfort her, but her tears blurred her eyesight.

"Girls... I...I...I'm so... sorr.."

Celestia choked mid-sentence. She had sent 8 of Equestria's most skilled ponies including Rainbow Dash, Silver Streak, Midnight Star, and even Daring Do. All those other 7 ponies were most possibly dead. She choked back a sob.

She would not let this be forgotten any time soon. She would make a holiday for the most loyal ponies of equestria. Yes.. She would do just that. She swallowed the tears failing miserably.

The room once filled with laughter minutes ago, now was filled with sobs.

The same day

Somewhere in the Crystal Mountains.

The pegasus woke up. Her head was throbbing and her stomach was grumbling as if she hadn't eaten anything in days. She shook off the dirt and tried to remember what she was doing. To her surprise she couldn't remember anything about her past. Heck, She didn't even know her name.

She was trying so hard to remember anything that she hadn't noticed something was behind her.

Discord supressed a giggle. My, wasn't it funny the way she scrunched her face up? As if that was going to help. No, it wouldn't. She had woken up far earlier than he had expected though. He had underestimated her physical abilities. No matter, he could complete the task right now. He carefully examined the memories he was about to put in the confused pegasus. Ah, yes... It was truly an art. The memory wasn't entirely false, her name would still be Rainbow Dash. But, that would probably be the only unchanged thing beside some minor details. This was going to be good, he could already tell. Starting the procedure he summoned a spell to channel the memories into the unsuspecting cyan pegasus.

Rainbow Dash blinked. Ah, there it was. Rainbow Dash, that was her name. She was unsure, as why her memories were gone for a moment but she remembered everything perfectly now. At least she thought so. She should probably ask Discord about it, maybe he would know the reason. Come to think of it, her stomach was also killing her. She felt as if she hadn't eaten in days. She turned and saw Discord.

"Say, I am hungry. Why don't we get to your place to grab some food?"

She asked, as if visiting the lord of chaos for food was completely normal. Discord grinned and replied if she wanted hayburgers. When she agreed, he snapped his claws and summoned them out of thin air.

Rainbow Dash smiled. It was nice having Discord for a friend. She bit down on her hay burger with great gusto.

Discord watched the rainbow mare gorge herself, then she grinned at him. He grinned back. He could feel her strength being restored.

The plan was working great by far. Yes, he could already feel it.

"We are going to be best partners, You and I"